Brentwood-based Comdata to pay $100M to settle suit

Jan. 24, 2014

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Brentwood-based Comdata Inc. has agreed to make a one-time $100 million cash payment to help settle claims in a lawsuit filed by a large group of independent truck stop operators from across the country.

According to the lawsuit, Comdata, the dominant issuer of trucker fleet cards, used its market dominance to hurt the ability of rival card issuers to challenge Comdata’s market position, resulting in independent truck stops having to pay millions of dollars more in inflated fees.

Some of the nation’s largest chain truck stop companies, including Knoxville-based Pilot Travel Centers LLC, were also defendants in the suit, and were accused of assisting Comdata in the scheme.

The suit was originally filed in 2007 in federal court and included Comdata as a defendant along with its parent company, Ceridian. The other defendants in the suit have agreed to pay an additional $30 million in penalties as a result of the settlement.

Comdata agreed to rework some of the terms of its contracts to help make them more competitive.

“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement that directly addresses merchant issues while continuing to emphasize and ensure fair treatment at the point of sale for fleets that carry the Comdata Card,” said Stuart C. Harvey Jr., chairman and CEO of Comdata. “While Comdata believes the lawsuit lacked merit, we decided to resolve the lawsuit so that we can continue to focus our full attention on strengthening and growing our relationships with our merchant and fleet customers.”